Arabesk

Ìkmen pulled an innocent grin. 'Oh, did I not introduce myself? How remiss of me. I am Inspector Ìkmen, a colleague of Inspector Suleyman.' He held his hand out to Galip in a friendly manner. 'And you are?'

'Galip Em-'

'I thought I made it clear I didn't want any more policemen!' an enraged Tansu cried. 'I've just thrown two of your men out of this house and-'

'Yes,' Ìkmen said as he moved towards the prone woman on the settee and took her hand in his, 'Sergeants Çöktin and Tepe. I am so sorry if they caused you pain. However, Inspector Suleyman and myself are here to alleviate your agonies, my dear Tansu Hanim.' He kissed her hand, feeling the revulsion that swept through her body as he did so. But her voice was calmer when next she spoke.

'Alleviate my agonies?'

Moving Galip a little roughly to one side, Ìkmen sat down. 'Sergeant Tepe informed us that you had refused hospital treatment'

Tansu eyed him suspiciously. 'Yes?'

'Well, as a responsible organisation, we could hardly countenance Turkey's brightest star taking such a risk,' he smiled. 'And so I have brought you one of our own doctors. As a devotee of everything you have ever done, madam, I could do no less.'

Fearing that perhaps Ìkmen had gone just slightly over the top, Suleyman nervously cleared his throat

Tansu's lizard-like gaze clung stonily to Ìkmen's face for several moments before it started to soften. 'You like my music?'

'I love it’ Ìkmen said enthusiastically and leaned forward to light the cigarette that still dangled from Tansu's fingers.

'What do you like about my music, then?' the singer asked suspiciously.

'I adore your passion,' Ìkmen said as he closed his eyes in imitation of one rapt with pleasure.

'My passion?'

'Oh, songs like "I Want None of You", "Hate Is My Only Friend"

"The Blue-green Bird Lies Bleeding" -I could go on and on!'

'Could you?'

'Yes.'

'So where's this doctor you say you've brought?'

All eyes now turned towards Galip who, resentful at having been pushed out of his place on the settee, was eyeing Ìkmen with some hostility.

'The doctor is washing up in your bathroom,' Ìkmen answered with a smile.

Galip's gaze narrowed into one of obvious suspicion. 'How does he know where our bathroom is?'

'Your sister, Miss Latife, actually directed the doctor to it' Suleyman said and then added, 'Oh, and the doctor is a she, actually, Mr Emin. Dr Halman.'

'We felt that a female doctor was far more appropriate for a lady patient, did we not, Inspector?' 'Oh, yes, absolutely.'

'B-but w-where is the d-doctor?' Yilmaz said, his face panicked.

Turning away briefly from Tansu's tear-ravaged face, Ìkmen said, smiling, 'As I said, Dr Halman is washing.'

'Have you any idea how clean a doctor's hands have to be before he or she touches a patient?' Suleyman added.

'I do,' Tansu snapped. 'I've had to have a lot of operations for, er, urn, problems, pain and bad things and… But neither of these,' she said as she loosely indicated her brothers, 'have ever been in hospital in their lives.'

'Yes, but-'

'You are just an ignorant peasant, Galip!' she shouted harshly. 'Doctors take a long time to prepare. I know, I've suffered, I've lived!'

'Indeed you have,' Ìkmen said as he mugged the falsest smile of his career, 'and as soon as the doctor has finished washing and has looked briefly at your sister she will attend to you.'

Tansu's face flushed. 'My sister…'

'Yes,' Ìkmen replied, 'she was, after all, also involved in the accident, wasn't she?'

'Yes.'

'Then a doctor is probably the best person for her to see at this point,' Ìkmen said with a smile. 'Nothing to worry about, I'm sure.'

Just as Tansu turned to look at her brothers the door to the room opened and then closed on a small, plump woman with blonde hair. Everyone looked up in her direction, Ìkmen and Suleyman both rose to their feet.

'Ah, Doctor!' the former said with enthusiasm, and then indicating Tansu, he added, 'Your exalted patient.'.

'Ah.'

The two men walked towards the doctor who, as Ìkmen passed her, murmured something into his ear. Although none of the Ernins could hear it, they eyed each other warily as they observed this exchange.

Ìkmen's face broke out into a broad smile.

'Shall we go, gentlemen?' Suleyman said, looking pointedly at the rather nervous pair of brothers.

'Well, it's only her leg,' Galip began.

'You think,' Dr Halman said as she moved in a very business-like fashion towards her patient, 'but I will have to check Miss Emin for internal trauma too and that,' she said pointedly, 'will necessitate her having to remove her clothes.'

Galip looked at Yilmaz and mouthed, 'I don't like this.' But his brother only shrugged as he rose slowly to his feet.

With a smile, Suleyman said again, 'Gentlemen?' Yilmaz walked slowly across the room, followed at an even slower pace by his brother.

'Now,' Dr Halman said as she sat down next to her patient, 'let me have a look at this leg.'

Chapter16

She was standing in the hallway as the party emerged from the drawing room, her eyes fixed upon the expressions on.the faces of Sergeants Çöktin and Tepe at the bottom of the staircase. Not that Ìkmen was looking at the eyes of Latife Emin. His gaze was firmly fixed upon her shoes which, he saw, were sturdy and 'sensible’. Given what'Dr Halman had just told him, he could clearly see that the left shoe had a thicker sole than the right' Yilmaz, who was standing, seemingly dumbstruck, to Ìkmen's right, gave a short gasp of surprise – or fear.

'I thought they had gone.. his more voluble brother exclaimed.

'Sergeants Çöktin and Tepe will take care of you for the time being’ Ìkmen said as he turned and smiled at the white-faced brothers.

'No!' Galip began, until Suleyman took hold of his arm and then wound it painfully up behind his back.

'Oh, I think yes,' he said with some force.

'I suggest you find a nice comfortable room to share with these gentlemen’ Ìkmen said to the two sergeants who had now, in the face of Galip's outburst, made it quite plain to all concerned that they were armed. 'If of course you can find anything remotely pleasant in this ghastly pile of crap’ he added with a smile.

Suleyman pushed the two brothers in front of him and handed them over to the two younger men.

'Sir’

And then Ìkmen turned to look at Latife Emin. Her face was as white as the thin linen of her blouse.

‘You know you really shouldn't be wearing such heavy shoes on a lovely parquet floor like this’ Ìkmen said taking her arm gently between his fingers. 'You could be doing it terrible damage. Why don't you take them off?'

Latife Emin moved the biography of Marilyn Monroe, which was her current entertainment when she was seated on the veranda, from her chair onto the table.

'Mmm’ Ìkmen said as he watched her lower herself into her seat. 'Like Marilyn do you?'

'Yes.'

'A woman unrecognised for her true talents.' Ìkmen picked the book up and turned it over. 'So you read English, do you, Miss Emin?'

'I manage’ she said as she motioned for the two men to sit down.

Ìkmen, as ever observant with regard to smoking requisites, viewed the numerous ashtrays with approval. 'I take it you don't mind if we smoke?' he said as he offered Suleyman a cigarette from his packet

'No, that's all right,' the woman replied, absently brushing a stray platinum hair out of her eyes.

The two men sat down and then lit up simultaneously. A few moments of silence, broken only by the barking of a distant dog, passed.

'So why did you murder Ruya Urfa?' Ìkmen asked when, in his estimation, enough time had elapsed.

‘I didn't' It was quite bald, a statement of fact.

Ìkmen smiled. ‘Oh? Did you not?'

'No.'

'So why did your sister shout at you to run after the car accident?' Suleyman asked, trying but without success to catch Latife Emin's elusive eyes.